Great Expectations and Managing Customer Conflict

“We got this done in record time. I don’t understand why the people at head office aren’t happy…”

“If the customer wanted more, they should have asked for it…”

There are actually two things they have in common. The first is that they are all situations where a customer (internal or external) is dissatisfied. The second is that they are all situations in which someone failed to adequately manage someone else’s expectations. This is easily the most common root cause of customer dissatisfaction and conflict.

IT’S NOT THE CUSTOMER’S FAULT

When you stop to think about it, is it really the stupid customer’s own fault that they don’t understand your business as well as they do? Is the customer really an idiot for asking for the wrong thing, and you just gave them what they asked for? I think not.

Here’s the deal: If you’re a custom homebuilder for example, and your customer believes it only takes three weeks to build a home – and you do nothing to change that belief, then that customer has every right to be grouchy when week four rolls around and they don’t have a house yet. Yes, you can try and console yourself by blaming the customer for not having ‘common sense,’ but that’s really quite unfair. What is common sense for a brain surgeon during surgery, for example, is likely not even in the realm of most other people’s body of knowledge. Does that make us fools? No. It makes the surgeon the expert. Just as you are the expert in your role.

One of the most valuable things you can do – for your customer and for yourself – is to make sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of expectations, and that as few things as possible are left to interpretation. Here are a few general rules worth remembering:

1. Don’t assumeUnderstand that your internal and external customers don’t have your unique combination of knowledge, expertise and perspective. Don’t treat them like children, of course, but always make a point to ensure they understand the process or project you’re working on.

2. Be specificDon’t, for example, say, “I’ll get right back to you.” If it’s going to take 20 minutes or an hour, your customer will be ticked if they are expecting 3-5 minutes. Give a time frame.

3. Ask for specificsIf someone says, “I need this for a proposal I’m sending in on Wednesday,” don’t assume Wednesday is your deadline. They might need it a day early. Ask for clarification.

4. Be braveSometimes we default to telling someone what they want to hear so that they won’t be angry at us. We’ll say things like, “We should have it by next week,” when we know it could actually take 3-4 weeks. The problem is that this person will now be even more angry after the first week has gone by. You’re better to deal with the initial disappointment, than with the subsequent anger.

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About The Author

Shaun Belding is a customer service expert, and author of five books on customer service, leadership and workplace success. As a keynote speaker (www.shaunbelding.com) on customer service, Shaun is known for his light-hearted, memorable style.
He leads The Belding Group of Companies, a global customer experience consultancy. Their training division, Belding Training, (www.beldingtraining.com) provides award-winning customer service training to companies around the world.